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Place Bou Jeloud (also spelled Boujloud or Bu Jeloud), also known as Place Pacha el-Baghdadi, is a large public square in
The square is bordered by Bab Mahrouk and the city walls of
Place Bou Jeloud (also spelled Boujloud or Bu Jeloud), also known as Place Pacha el-Baghdadi, is a large public square in Fes
Fez () or Fes (; ) is a city in northern inland Morocco and the capital of the Fez-Meknes administrative region. It is one of the largest cities in Morocco, with a population of 1.256 million, according to the 2024 census. Located to the nort ...
, Morocco
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
, located west of Bab Bou Jeloud
Bab Bou Jeloud (also spelled Bab Boujeloud or Bab Boujloud) is an ornate city gate in Fes el Bali, the old city of Fez, Morocco. The current gate was built by the French colonial administration in 1913 to serve as the grand entrance to the old ...
gate.
Name
''Bou Jeloud'', the square's historical name, is also associated with the formerkasbah
A kasbah (, also ; , , Maghrebi Arabic: ), also spelled qasbah, qasba, qasaba, or casbah, is a fortress, most commonly the citadel or fortified quarter of a city. It is also equivalent to the term in Spanish (), which is derived from the same ...
(citadel) on its southern side and to the famous city gate to its east today. The name "Bou Jeloud" (or ''Bou Jloud'') is reportedly a vernacular corruption of the expression ''Abu al-Junud'' ("father of the troops"), referring to a military parade ground.
Today the square is also named after Pasha Si Mohammed Ben Bouchta El Baghdadi, the officer who was placed in charge of Fes during the first 20 years of the French Protectorate between 1912 and his death in 1932.
Historical background
The square likely dates from theAlmohad
The Almohad Caliphate (; or or from ) or Almohad Empire was a North African Berber Muslim empire founded in the 12th century. At its height, it controlled much of the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus) and North Africa (the Maghreb).
The Almohad ...
period (early 13th century) when most of the surrounding fortifications were constructed by Muhammad al-Nasir
Muhammad al-Nasir (,'' Muḥammad an-Nāṣir'', – 1213) was the fourth Almohad Caliph from 1199 until his death. Évariste Lévi-Provençalal-Nāṣir Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Brill Online, 2013. Reference. 9 January 2013. Co ...
. It was originally used as military parade ground and staging area but was also used as a camping ground for caravans and as a promenade and entertainment ground in the evenings. On the south side of the square was the Kasbah Bou Jeloud, a formerly walled compound that was occupied by the authorities and by the governor of Fes from the Almohad period to the 20th century, but which today is a common neighbourhood.
For a long time, the middle of the square was occupied by a large, rectangular, Marinid
The Marinid dynasty ( ) was a Berber Muslim dynasty that controlled present-day Morocco from the mid-13th to the 15th century and intermittently controlled other parts of North Africa (Algeria and Tunisia) and of the southern Iberian Peninsula ...
-era building that served as stables and was known as the ''Herri Bou Jloud.'' The city walls on the western side of the square, adjoining the city's main western gate, Bab Mahrouk
Bab Mahrouk, also spelled Bab Mahruq, ( ) is historically the main western city gate of Fes el Bali, the old walled city of Fes, Morocco. The gate dates from 1204 and is located on the northwestern corner of Place Bou Jeloud, near the edge of ...
, were also lined with small chambers or shelters for the soldiers who kept watch at night, while the northern and eastern parts of the square were also occupied by miscellaneous structures such as warehouses and a marabout
In the Muslim world, the marabout () is a Sayyid, descendant of Muhammad (Arabic: سـيّد, Romanization of Arabic, romanized: ''sayyid'' and ''sidi'' in the Maghreb) and a Islam, Muslim religious leader and teacher who historically had the f ...
's tomb.
Description
The square is bordered by Bab Mahrouk and the city walls of Fes el Bali
Fes el Bali () is the oldest part of Fez, Morocco. It is one of the three main districts of Fez, along with Fes Jdid and the French protectorate in Morocco, French-created ''Ville Nouvelle (New City'). Together with Fes Jdid, it forms the Medina q ...
to the west, by the Kasbah en-Nouar
The Kasbah An-Nouar or Kasbah Filali is a walled district and former military enclosure in the old medina of Fez, Morocco. Its name means "citadel of the flowers", but it is sometimes also referred to as Kasbah Filala and Kasbah Chorfa. It is one o ...
to the north (including the Bab Chorfa gate), and by the former Kasbah Bou Jeloud to the south. To the south today is also the Lycée Moulay Idris, Morocco's first "modern" secondary school, founded in 1917. The Bou Jeloud Mosque
The Bou Jeloud Mosque () is a historic Almohad Caliphate, Almohad-era mosque in the former Kasbah of Bou Jeloud, located near Bab Bou Jeloud, in Fez, Morocco, Fes, Morocco.
History
The mosque was founded by the Almohad Caliphate, Almohad Calip ...
, established in the Almohad period, also stands nearby to the southeast, on the site of the former Kasbah Bou Jeloud.Present-day use
Today the square is still used for various events, such as one of the venues for theWorld Sacred Music Festival
The Fez Festival of World Sacred Music (Festival des Musiques Sacrées du Monde) is an annual music festival that is held for a week in Fez, Morocco. It was first held in 1994 and usually held over 10 days in early June. The festival includes conc ...
. The northern part of the square, in front of Bab Chorfa gate, is the site of a long-running open-air market selling low-cost goods to local residents.
As of 2022, the square was undergoing extensive renovation for the construction of a new large-scale parking facility that will serve the old city of Fes.
References